THE MAKING OF BELIEVING IN LOVE - Dave Gross: Organ/Keys

I met Dave at a Songwriter Summit in Seattle in 2014. It was the first major Recording Academy event I had been to since becoming a member. It was an all day event at Seattle’s EMP (now called MoPOP), and I was excited to meet all these other music making folks in my homeland. Dave was one of the first people I talked to that day. We had a lovely conversation about producing, and I found out that he was the Chair for the Producers and Engineers Wing of our Pacific Northwest Chapter. Dave was so joyful, and happy to share the things he was passionate about, having absolutely no idea who I was. It didn’t matter. He made me feel like I belonged there. Things progressed that day, and I had the chance to show him, and others in the room, who I am and what I do, which led to the beginning of a number of great things, including a great friendship with Dave. Not only is he a true master as a musician, he’s a pretty incredible producer/engineer as well. In fact, his producing skills earned him a Grammy award in 2015. Suffice it to say, Dave played a roll in this record long before he actually came in to add his musical touch. He showed up to London Bridge Studio one evening in December of last year with a beautiful new keyboard, and after carefully placing it in the control room, he made a bee line for the Hammond B3 Organ in the big room. He requested a screwdriver, rolled up his sleeves, and started to make some very necessary tweaks to the control knob on the organ. Next he moved to the giant Leslie speaker (which accompanies this particular instrument), and began unscrewing a few panels in order to get the best tone while recording. Then he started to play. It was powerful, masterful, and within a couple of takes, we had more than enough material to pick through for the song Goodnight. After that, Dave came back in the control room to play with his new toy. This beautiful keyboard he brought was probably one of the more innovative instruments I have seen in a long time, but I’ll save that story for another time. Right away, we got to work on The Great Northwest. Once again, in just a few short takes we had more than enough material to thumb through. Dave added some really fun and funky sounds to this upper left corner anthem. I cannot imagine this project without Dave Gross on it, and I could not be more grateful and thrilled to have his special touch on these songs. Thank you, Dave for believing in me, and for #BelievingInLove